acquisitive

adjective

ac·quis·i·tive ə-ˈkwi-zə-tiv

: strongly desirous of acquiring and possessing

acquisitively adverb

acquisitiveness noun

Did you know?

While acquisitive is a useful synonym of the likes of greedy and avaricious, it's relatively unknown compared to its more popular lexical relations, acquire and acquisition. The former of that pair is most often used to mean "to get as one's own," as in "skills acquired through practice"; the latter refers either to the act of acquiring something, as in "the acquisition of skills," or to something or someone acquired or gained, as in "the museum's recent acquisitions." All three have as their ultimate source the Latin word acquīrere, meaning "to acquire." While acquire and acquisition have both been in use since the 15th century, acquisitive is a bit younger. The word has a somewhat rare use meaning "capable of acquiring" that dates to the late 16th century, but its "greedy" meaning dates only to the early 19th century.

Choose the Right Synonym for acquisitive

covetous, greedy, acquisitive, grasping, avaricious mean having or showing a strong desire for especially material possessions.

covetous implies inordinate desire often for another's possessions.

covetous of his brother's country estate

greedy stresses lack of restraint and often of discrimination in desire.

greedy for status symbols

acquisitive implies both eagerness to possess and ability to acquire and keep.

an eagerly acquisitive mind

grasping adds to covetous and greedy an implication of selfishness and often suggests unfair or ruthless means.

a hard grasping businesswoman who cheated her associates

avaricious implies obsessive acquisitiveness especially of money and strongly suggests stinginess.

an avaricious miser

Examples of acquisitive in a Sentence

acquisitive developers are trying to tear down the historic home and build a shopping mall

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Infinite Reality, which is building a headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was founded in 2019 and has been acquisitive in recent months, buying companies such as the Drone Racing League, Landvault and virtual reality retail brand Obsess. —Kif Leswing, CNBC, 25 Mar. 2025 Fremantle was incredibly acquisitive around three years back but its only big M&A deal in the past year has been Red Planet maker Asacha and Beach House, although these were splashy. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 20 Mar. 2025 Not only is China’s population (1.4 billion) enormous, that same population is increasingly acquisitive. —John Tamny, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025 In a year of severe economic headwinds, being shrewdly acquisitive with its majority stakes paid off for STV, which runs a channels business, digital biz and the STV Studios productions arm. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for acquisitive

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Late Latin; French acquisitif, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Late Latin acquīsītīvus "acquired, involving gain or possession," from Latin acquīsītus (past participle of acquīrere "to acquire") + -īvus -ive

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of acquisitive was in 1835

See more words from the same year